JICA funds Rs. 340 m for 15 Govt. officers to pursue Masters in Japan

Tuesday, 29 May 2012 02:39 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The development of the human resources in the public sector has been identified as an imperative factor to achieve the Government’s development targets by making productive decisions and to deliver efficient and productive services to the general public by the ‘Mahinda Chinthana: Vision for the Future’.

In order to fulfil these objectives, the Government of Sri Lanka has obtained considerable amount of foreign training opportunities and scholarships under the technical assistance of the Government of Japan during the last five years.

Accordingly, the Government of Sri Lanka has attempted to obtain a grant of Japanese Yen 211 million (approximately Rs. 340 million) for implementation of the third phase of Human Resources Development Scholarship Program and the Government of Japan has agreed to provide funds for this process.

The objective of this program is to support human resources development by providing opportunities for the Government officials to follow Masters Degree Programs in reputed Japanese universities.

In addition, it is expected that the government officials who are following Master Degrees under this program, will contribute to the social and economic development of the country in productive manner with self confidence. Further, it is expected that these officials can be highly contributed to strengthen the bilateral relationship between two countries.

Under this scholarship program, 15 long term scholarships will be provided to Sri Lanka in each year from 2011-2014, to pursue post graduate studies in Japanese universities in the fields of public policy and public finance, public administration, regional development, and macro and development economics. The candidates for this program will be selected from the relevant line ministries, departments and agencies based on a competitive selection process.

The Government of Japan has provided grant assistance of Japanese Yen 229 and 208 million for 2010 and 2011 respectively to cover the course fee and living cost of the qualified scholars. The scholars of the first batch will be returned to Sri Lanka in August of this year after the successfully completion of their Master Degree Programs and scholars of the second batch are currently studying at the Japanese universities under this program.

An Exchange of Notes between the two Governments and a Grant Agreement between the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the JICA for the implementation of the Human Resources Development Scholarship Program were signed at the Ministry of Finance and Planning.

Relevant documents were signed by P. B. Jayasundera, Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Planning on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka, Nobuhito Hobo Ambassador of Japan in Sri Lanka on behalf of the Government of Japan and Harumi Ao, Chief Representative of JICA on behalf of the JICA.